Let me get this out of the way right now: Brian Wilson's 9th inning full-count fastball was the worst San Francisco Giant pitch of the year. Up one run, two bases open, hottest hitter on the black-and-teal planet in the box, and he'd hit a high fastball into the cheap seats two innings earlier. Wilson tried to paint Uggla down and away with a fastball, but it leaked up and in, and Dan Uggla smashed in into the alley for a game-tying double.
All turned out for the best, of course, thanks to Andres Torres's bases-loaded "single" in the 10th; what would have either been a sac fly or a double with the Marlins playing normal D. Either way, it won the game, and the Giants ultimately won what they should have won much more easily, having been up 9-2 entering the seventh inning.
It's hard to gnash your teeth too much about the blown lead. Jonathan Sanchez had it, then he lost it, and he lost it fast, which made the game 9-5 before Bochy could bring out the hook. Denny Bautista actually pitched well but for a wild-pitch strike three that gave Florida extra life, and, yes, the high-and-tight fastball to Uggla that most mortals would have swung through or popped up. There you go. 9-7. And then Wilson had a rare expectoration of a near-certain save, something that is going to happen once every blue moon to most closers.
A quick aside on Wilson: His K rate is now over 12 per 9 innings; he's striking out batters at a rate worthy of his stuff. And he'd be even more dominant if not for an abnormally high BABIP -- batters have a .372 average on balls in play against him. Partially it's because he still makes mistakes in the strike zone, like his ugly pitch to Uggla Wednesday, but also check out the amount of infield hits he's allowed: More than 9% of ground balls are turning into infield hits, probably because batters are hitting the ball so weakly. Or he doesn't field his position well. I think it's more the former.
One last note about trade rumors: Today's Giants buzz revolved around Jorge Cantu. Unless he's to be the infield version of Pat Burrell -- fairly useless in the field, a good track record against lefties -- I really don't see this. Cantu has been awful at the plate this year, even against lefties. Perhaps the Giants would hope he could regain his '08-'09 form against LHP, otherwise he's not of much use at this point. As for LA grabbing Scott Podsednik, that's nice. He's proven to be a good on-base and steals guy the past two years. But when Manny comes back from the DL -- if he wants to, that is -- Podsednik will be a fourth OF. We'll get a look at him up close starting Friday.
All turned out for the best, of course, thanks to Andres Torres's bases-loaded "single" in the 10th; what would have either been a sac fly or a double with the Marlins playing normal D. Either way, it won the game, and the Giants ultimately won what they should have won much more easily, having been up 9-2 entering the seventh inning.
It's hard to gnash your teeth too much about the blown lead. Jonathan Sanchez had it, then he lost it, and he lost it fast, which made the game 9-5 before Bochy could bring out the hook. Denny Bautista actually pitched well but for a wild-pitch strike three that gave Florida extra life, and, yes, the high-and-tight fastball to Uggla that most mortals would have swung through or popped up. There you go. 9-7. And then Wilson had a rare expectoration of a near-certain save, something that is going to happen once every blue moon to most closers.
A quick aside on Wilson: His K rate is now over 12 per 9 innings; he's striking out batters at a rate worthy of his stuff. And he'd be even more dominant if not for an abnormally high BABIP -- batters have a .372 average on balls in play against him. Partially it's because he still makes mistakes in the strike zone, like his ugly pitch to Uggla Wednesday, but also check out the amount of infield hits he's allowed: More than 9% of ground balls are turning into infield hits, probably because batters are hitting the ball so weakly. Or he doesn't field his position well. I think it's more the former.
One last note about trade rumors: Today's Giants buzz revolved around Jorge Cantu. Unless he's to be the infield version of Pat Burrell -- fairly useless in the field, a good track record against lefties -- I really don't see this. Cantu has been awful at the plate this year, even against lefties. Perhaps the Giants would hope he could regain his '08-'09 form against LHP, otherwise he's not of much use at this point. As for LA grabbing Scott Podsednik, that's nice. He's proven to be a good on-base and steals guy the past two years. But when Manny comes back from the DL -- if he wants to, that is -- Podsednik will be a fourth OF. We'll get a look at him up close starting Friday.
